Machine for forming cushion brims



Dec. 18, 1934. 1.. DARU MACHINE FOR FORMING CUSHION BRIMS Filed Aug. 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l l vrzgTdR I I BY u/dam A ATTORNEY Dec. 18, 1934. L. DARU MACHINE FOR FORMING CUSHION BRIMS Filed Aug. 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JELJRE 4 Patented Dec. 18, 1934 MACHINE FOR FORMING CUSHION BRIMS Louis Daru, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to M. A.

Cuming & Co. Inc., a. corporation of New York ' v Application August s, 1930', Serial No. 473,835

' 6 Claims. (01. 2'23 31) lVIy invention relates to machines for forming cushion brims upon hats, caps, berets and the like. A

I More particularly stated, my invention re- 5 lates to mechanism for stretching blanks and,

.bOdiBS, to be used in the blockingof hats, caps and berets, in such manner as to facilitate the formation of a cushion brim upon the finished article, and to reduce to a minimum the amount of time and labor required for the purpose.

Reference ismade to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like reference characters indicate like :parts throughout all of the figures:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a form of my machine adapted for blocking hat blanks for ladies hats,a portion of .the'hat blank being shown as partially broken away?v Figure-.12 is a section upon the line 2,-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated by arrows. F T a Figure 3 is a' section upon the line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated by arrows. Y

.5 'Figure 4 ispartly a fragmentary side elevation and partly a section of the mechanism shown'in Figure 1. r

Figure 5 is a substantially central vertical section through the mechanism shown in Figure 1, but with the hand lever swung downwardly into its lowermost position.

Figure 6 is asubstantiallycentral vertical section through another form of my invention, adapted for blocking bodies ofcaps and berets. Figure '7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Figure 6, looking in the direction indicated by arrows. I

Figure 8 is a fragmentary section showing the cushion brim of a hatmade in accordance with my invention. I

Figure 9 is a fragmentary section showing the cushion brim of a beret made in accordance with my invention.

A pair of head beams 8, 8 are mounted horizontally upon upright beams 9, '9 and therewith constitute a frame.

Supported upon this frame is a base plate 10,

form indicated in Figure-3. Engaging these pitman links are pivotally connected with .;a plunger rod 18. F

, The plunger rod 18 is moved up anddown as the hand lever is raised andlowered. As the .hand lever is lowered the stop plate '16, lodges '5 against the side plates 11 and thus limits the downstroke of thehandlever. q Supported upon the lowerend of; the plunger rodlS is a plunger 19, used as a formingdie member as, hereinafter more fully described, 10

and, provided with a forming edge 20. r

The plunger 19 isprovided with bearings 21, 21through which extend a pair of stationary "guide rods 22, 22, shown'more particularly in Figure 2. By means of these bearings the 15 plunger is guided accurately in itsimovements.

The-guide rods 22, 22 extend upwardly through, holes in the head beams .8, Band'are engaged by nuts 23, 23 as indicated in Figure:2. The guide. rods are at their lower ends pro- 2 0 vided with heads 24, 24, and toward their "upper ends are further provided with ,abrupt bends 25, 25 serving as shoulders for limiting the upward travel of the plunger 19.

' A forming die 26. is used for forming hat 25 crowns or crowns of analogous head wear. This forming die is hollow, and-is provided with a head 2'7 which carries astretching ring 28.

The head '27 is provided withaformingcham nel 29, which encircles andispartiallybounded by the stretching ring 28, as may be understood from Figures 2 and 3. n A a The stretching ring 28 Y provided with a pair of ears 30, 30 integral with it and having the ears are screws, 31, 31 for'h'oldingthe stretching ring 28 in position.

"The stretching ring 28' is' provided. with a number of sharp points 32, extending upwardly from it and serving as anchor points or fastenq ing members. M v

, A'hat body is shown at-33, and provided with an'edge portion'34', which may be-hooked on to the anchor points 32 as may be understood from Figures 1 and 5. a Z [A cord 35, shown more particularly in Figure 1, is used for encircling the hat body and holding it closely in engagement with the forming die. The cord is provided with a portion 36 secured'to one of the upright beams9, and may 50 be secured toanotheron'e of the upright beams 9 as indicated at 38 in Figure 1. i

Located within the forming die :26 and-supported thereby is a heating coil 39. Connected with this heating coil and extending upwardly therefrom is an insulated conductor 40, used for electrically energizing the heating coil.

The conductor 40 extends through a hole 41 in the head 27 and also through a hole 42 in the plunger 19, these holes being large enough to prevent the movements of plunger 19 from interfering with conductor 40.

In using the form of my device illustrated in Figures 1 to inclusive, the operator proceeds as follows:

The movable parts being in their normal positions as indicated in Figures 1 and 4, the operator takes up a hat body 33 and places it in position upon the forming die 26.

The hat body, together with others of its kind, has been subjected to the action of steam,

and brought to the condition where it can be readily stretched and otherwise formed.

The hat body is slipped upwardly over the forming die, the edge portion 34 of the material being impaled upon the anchor points 32 of the stretching ring 28. Next the cord 35 is twined around the hat body, tightly enough to hold the ,latter after the manner of a band,'as indicated in Figure 1.

This leaves the hat body in such position as to cover the channel 29, asmay be understood from the left-hand portion of Figure 1.

Next the operator grasps the hand lever 12,

and pulls it down from its position indicated in Figure 4 to its position indicated in Figure :5. This brings the stop plate 16 against the side plates 11, 11 and thus acts as a limiting stop for preventing excessive travel of the hand lever.

The plunger 19 is thus caused to descend to the lowermost limit of its travel.

By this downward movement of the plunger '19 its forming edge 20 engages a portion of the hat body, and forces it down into the channel 29, pressing it gently but firmly against the bottom of its channel, and smoothing out all wrinkles, as may be understood from Figure 5.

The apparatus is left in this position for a minute or two, and this time is utilized by the operator in preparing another apparatus of the same kind for a similar operation.

During the time interval just mentioned the heat of the forming die 26, due to action of the heating coil 39, causes the hat body to dry out and thus retain the shape which it has acquired.

This done, the operator grasps the hand lever 12, now in the position indicated for it in Figure 5, and raises it into its normal position indicated in Figure 4.

This raises the plunger 19, and the operator then removes the hat body by hand, first disconnecting the edge portion 34 from the anchor points 32., I

Next the operator cuts off a portion of the hat body, leaving the hat body in condition for its brim portion to be used as a cushion brim.

I The form of my device shown in Figures 6 and 7 is specially adapted to block caps and berets from felt bodies.

7 A beret die made of metal is shown at 41, and carries a stretching ring 42. The beret die is provided with a channel 43, encircling and partially bounding the stretching ring 42.

Carried by the beret die 41 and housed within 47, 47, substantially like the guide rods 22, 22 above described.

The guide rods 47, 47 extend through holes in a plunger 48, and are loose relatively thereto so that the plunger 48 may be slided freely up and down relatively to the guide rods.

The apparatus shown in Figures 6 and '7, except as otherwise described, is like that described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 inclusive. It differs chiefly in the use made of it, the apparatus shown in Figures 6 and 7 being used upon cap and beret bodies, the apparatus shown in the other figures being employed for hat bodies.

A finished. hat brim is shown in Figure 8, at 49. It is provided with a cushion edge 50 forming the outer marginal edge of the brim, and is further provided with another cushion edge 51, located at the inner margin of the brim. This last mentioned cushion edge is held in position by means of stitching 52.

After a body for a cap of a beret has been formed and dried it is removed from the machine, and its surplus edge is out off. This is merely a sort of selvage,which carries with it the lacerated margin formed by the anchor points 32.

In Figure 9 I show a fragmentary section of a beret 53 made in accordance with my invention. It has an outer cushion 54 and an inner cushion 55 corresponding generally with the cushions 50 and 51 above. To form the cushion 55 a por tion 56 of the material is turned back upon itself, and stitched at 57 so that the stitching is invisible from the outside.

Within the portion thus-turned back an elastic band is sometimes enclosed, this being no essential part of my invention.

While'I show and describe only two specific forms of my invention, my machine is well adapted for forming cushion brims in many different ways, upon hats, caps, berets and other head wear,as occasion may require. It is well adapted for use in all relations where a blank or a'body is to be so formed as to be provided with a cushion brim.

I do not limit myself to the precise mechanism here illustrated and described, as variations may be made. therein without departing from my in.-' vention, the scope of which is commensurate with my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as'new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:--

1. The combination including a supporting frame, guide rods connected by their upper ends with said frame and depending downwardly therefrom, a forming die carried by said guide rods and at the lower ends thereof and provided with a channel therein disposed to encircle said guide rods adapted to receive a portion of a hat blank therein, and means movable up and down along said guide rods adapted to enter said channel for thereby forcing said portion of the hat blank into said channel.

2. The combination including a supporting frame, guide rods connected by their upper ends with} said frame and depending downwardly therefrom, a forming die carried by said guide rods at the lower ends thereof adapted to receive a hat blank applied thereto in an inverted position so that the crown portion of the blank envelopes the bottom of the die and so that the edge portion of the blank laps inwardly over upon the upper portion of the die, and a plunger slidably mounted upon said guide rods so as to be guided thereby into and out of position pressing said edge portion of the blank against the die, together with an electrical heating element for heating the die said heating element having a conductor extending therefrom loosely through an opening formed through the plunger.

3. A machine for making berets comprising in combination a form over which a single piece of material may be shaped into a beret, an annular pressure member for axial co-operation with said form, means for heating said form, means passing through said pressure member for supporting said form from the same side as said pressure member and means for pressing said form and pressure member together by relative movement there-between in a direction along said supporting means so that said form and the material thereon is engaged only by the pressure member andon the same side of said form as said pressure member.

4. A machine for making berets comprising in combination a form over which a single piece of material may be shaped into a beret, a pressure member for axial co-operation with said form, means for heating said form,v means passing through said pressure member for supporting said form from the same side as said pressure member, and means for pressing said form and pressure member together by relative movement therebetween in a direction along said supporting means so that said form and the material sure member located on the side of said form with said supporting means and perforated for the passage of said supporting means therethrough, said pressure member engaging said form on only a minor portion of its surfacfi adjacent said form, and means for axially moving said form and pressure member relatively toward and from each other in such manner as to compress the outer surface of the beret material on only a minor portion of its area, and on the supported side of said disc form inwardly of its periphery. v

6. Forming means for the material of a tam, comprising an inwardly heated shell, said shell being centrally recessed upon its upper side, and means engaging the margin of said material, ex-

tendable into said recess and stretching said material over the bottom, sides and top of said heated shell when extended into said recess while thus engaged on said material.

LOUIS DARU. 

